Single Idea 22322

[catalogued under 9. Objects / F. Identity among Objects / 2. Defining Identity]

Full Idea

Russell's definition of identity [x is y if any predicate of x is a predicate of y] won't do, because then one cannot say that two objects have all their properties in common

Gist of Idea

You can't define identity by same predicates, because two objects with same predicates is assertable

Source

Ludwig Wittgenstein (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus [1921], 5.5302), quoted by Michael Potter - The Rise of Analytic Philosophy 1879-1930 53 'Ident'

Book Reference

Potter,Michael: 'The Rise of Anaytic Philosophy 1879-1930' [Routledge 2020], p.358


A Reaction

[The Russell is in Principia] Good. Even if Leibniz is right that no two obejcts have identical properties, it is at least meaningful to consider the possibility. Russell makes it an impossibility, rather than a contingent fact.